


My Heart Can't Be Fixed, But Thanks For Trying

by tovlouses



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 5k, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of Smut, and bossy as hell, but he's a bottom so no worries, it took me a long time to write this, louis is the prince of england, only a few curse words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 07:38:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tovlouses/pseuds/tovlouses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is the prince of England, Harry is paranoid</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Heart Can't Be Fixed, But Thanks For Trying

**Author's Note:**

> It took me a while to write this because I just stepped away from it after a while, but I re-wrote it and now I like it. I still think it goes fast in some parts though. so.

"Mother!" Four high pitched voices are squealing for attention as the eldest woman of the house takes a seat on the couch in the sitting room.

"I will be with you in a moment, my dears. Why don't you play upstairs in your rooms while I have a chat with Louis?" It's more of a command than a question, so the girls scurry up the steps to get to their rooms, not wanting to waste another precious moment talking to their mother when they could be playing dolls.

Louis always gets nervous when talking to his mother; she isn't the easiest going person in the world. And at the moment she has a look on her face that says she really wants to talk. Now. Louis quickly sits down on one of the plush sofas, running his fingers over the soft, cotton material to calm his nerves. When he glances up, he notes his mother has creases in her forehead, a clear sign of her worrying.

"Louis," she breaks off with a sigh. And really. How exasperated can she be with him? "You have taken to be quite a handful these past few months. You hardly do anything you are told to do and your last servant, Nick, left because he couldn’t handle all of your ruckus." Okay, so. A lot. "I've hired another boy to be your personal servant. He will make your bed, run your errands, and even help you with school lessons. His name is Harry and he shall be here tomorrow morning promptly at eight a.m. Please do not mess this up." She blots her mouth with a handkerchief she got from seemingly nowhere and places a few sheets of paper on the glass table in front of him. On those papers are pictures of a boy, Harry, and a few details depicting what he will be doing and what room he is staying in. (The room next to his apparently) (which is something he does not mind at all considering this bloke is right fit) (but he'll never admit that to anyone lest he wants to be taunted by his sisters.)

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning Louis wakes up to the sound of voices floating through the house, which isn't uncommon. Except that he hears a voice he doesn't normally hear in the mornings. When he looks over to his bedside table he sees it is 8:36, which means Harry must be here already. Louis is very reluctant to get out of his bed, the silk sheets feel nice against his bare skin and his pillows have been fluffed to where they rest against his head perfectly. But he knows if he stays in his room a minute longer he will get scolded by his mother and he really doesn't want that. So he hurries to change into a nice pair of sweats and a loose jumper, adding slippers since the palace gets cold and makes his toes freeze. When he gets downstairs, his mother and a boy are in the foyer discussing what seems to be very important things, but Louis never minds interrupting.

 

"Good morning, mother." He kisses his mother's cheek lightly, before turning his body to face the boy standing in his hallway. Those pictures he looked at yesterday did not do this boy justice, he was so much more handsome. Downright adorable with the hair yet those eyes and cheekbones screamed sexy.

“Louis. Take Harry upstairs to his room and let him get… cleaned up a bit. Show him around so he knows where everything is without getting lost.” She places a kiss on Louis’ cheek and smiles at Harry as she passes them, most likely to assure herself that her daughters aren’t causing a mess. They may have maids to clean up their messes, but she doesn’t like dumping everything on them.

“So how old are you, Harry?” Louis takes Harry’s hand in his and pulls him along, grabbing his one bag with a free hand. With a quick scan around the hall, he notes that there are no other bags around, and the bag he is carrying isn’t that full of clothes. He frowns, but pulls Harry along anyway.

Harry coughs quietly whilst looking around the almost magical palace. “Erm. I’m seventeen.” He coughs again and follows close behind Louis while going up the long spiral staircase. Louis can almost feel the awkward tension, especially after Harry’s hand slips out of his own.

Once they are upstairs and safely in Harry’s new room, Louis can see Harry’s eyes widen to the size of the china bowls downstairs. He laughs softly and sets Harry’s bag down on the king sized bed. “What?” He asks, a smirk evident on his face. “This room not big enough?” He’s just about to start laughing again but he’s interrupted by the boy shaking his head furiously.

“No! No this room is perfect. Way bigger than my room at my last house. About four times bigger. Wow, this is amazing.” Harry knows he’s rambling, but he finds it too hard to care when he has a view of the backyard garden from his window and his bed has burgundy, satin sheets. The carpet is a clean white color and from what he can see, the bathroom and closet are easily bigger than his old living room. He almost doesn’t want to touch anything since he knows he will probably get things dirty. He isn’t.. the cleanest, at the moment. “It’s.. perfect.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Master Tomlinson, I don’t believe you are supposed to be sneaking cookies before dinner.” Harry scolds whilst holding a basket filled with Louis’ clean laundry. He knows Louis wants to be on a first name basis, but it’s just so unprofessional to call Louis anything other than ‘Master Tomlinson’ or ‘Prince Louis’. He’s mainly just scared of getting fired for being too unprofessional in the work place. That and he doesn’t want to make friends with the Prince of England and then get tossed around like his past friendships.

Louis just laughs at him and continues eating the cookies. And if Harry weren’t mistaken, he would have swore he could see Louis winking at him.

 

* * *

 

 

A few days later, Harry finds himself putting new sheets on Louis’ bed. Louis had asked him to do so and simply winked when asked why. Harry then understood by the mysterious white stain on the duvet and just couldn’t stop blushing at the thought of his boss doing… that.

He jumps when two arms wrap around his middle and sighs when Louis nuzzles into his neck. “Master Tomlinson this is inappropriate.” He tries (and miserably fails) to make his voice sound stern. Instead it comes out as weak and croaky. Louis just tightens his hold when Harry tries to get away.

“You can’t get away from me Haz,” (the nickname does not make his stomach flip and explode with butterflies) (even though it totally does) “So stop trying.” Louis is seriously trying not to laugh, but this boy is just too cute.

“Master Tomlinson-

“Louis.”

“ _Master Tomlinson_. This is inappropriate and I could lose my job if your mother saw us.” Harry is really starting to panic now. He can’t afford to lose this job, and he’s terrified of going back to Cheshire and tell his mum he got fired. This is the only way to give his mum some sort of money, and he’ll be damned if he gets fired.

“Trust me Hazza. My mum wouldn’t fire you, you’re amazing.” Louis smiles as he hooks his head on Harry’s shoulder and Harry almost, almost lets this go. But of course. He doesn’t.

“Seriously Louis. I can lose my job and I can’t afford that. Now please get off of me so I can finish my work and get to cleaning up my room.” He snaps harshly, surprising Louis with his tone. Surprising him enough that he misses the way Harry had used his actual name without any formality involved. To Harry’s delight, he backs off and takes small steps towards the door.

“O-Okay then. See you later I guess.”

Harry really doesn’t want to dwell on the fact that Louis sounded genuinely hurt and upset. So he continues making the bed before heading off down the hall to his own room to clean up his own mess.

* * *

 

 

“Harry?” Jay is calling him from the sitting room, and Harry can tell she sounds a little upset. Which is worrying to say the least.

“Yes, Queen Jay?” Harry refuses to call her anything else, other than Mrs. Tomlinson, despite her friendly requests to simply call her Jay. Harry really doesn’t want to come off as improper by calling the Queen of England Jay.

“Come sit.” She pats the couch twice, her polished nails shimmering in the light, and Harry hurries to sit as gracefully as he can. Of course, he’s tall and lanky and weird so his plan backfires as he stumbles to take the seat. “Harry,” she’s sighing, and he really hopes this isn’t going where he thinks it is going. “Harry, you seem to spend a lot of time with my son. And yesterday after he checked on you, he seemed.. off. A little upset. Do you know what happened to make him upset?”

I scolded your son for cuddling me, that’s what. “I don’t know ma’am. Maybe he is just not feeling well. He’s in the playroom upstairs with his sisters so I can check on him now and see how he is doing.” Before Jay can utter another word, he is up and walking towards the upstairs playroom to ‘check on Louis’. (He really just wants to get away from accusatory glances.)

 

* * *

 

 

Harry has a bad habit of not getting his hopes up.

When he was eight, he had friend named Sheila who would make him play barbies and dress up. Harry didn’t mind, he liked playing with her. At the time, Sheila was his only friend, so any chance he got to play with someone other than his sister was time well spent. They would play everyday after school and every night they would call each other from their parents phones to say goodnight. That friendship lasted about a year, and they had been closer than ever. He told her all his secrets, of how his parents were arguing more lately and he’s scared they might get a “divorce. whatever that means”. The night before Sheila moved away to Bradford he told her he might be in love with her. Sheila, of course, laughed in his face. Harry was never really able to make anymore friends in that Primary School, considering everyone already had their group of friends and adding another to the mix would just be weird.

So for the rest of Primary school he was left alone, with nothing but his thoughts.

In Secondary school, he had a few more ‘friends’ and crushes that strung his hopes way too thin, until they came crashing down. His biggest crush was on a boy named James, a handsome, blond boy in his Literature class. James had befriended Harry, taking him under his wing and showing him off as his best friend. Harry, of course, thought this meant they had a mutual liking of each other. Boy was he wrong. Five months into the friendship, Harry and James met at their usual spot, underneath the big oak tree behind the school. There was where Harry confessed his love for his best friend. And there was where he got his heart broken when James told him he had a girlfriend he was very much in love with.

Secondary school wasn’t as fun as his mother had said.

His friendships never lasted long anyway, but Harry would always be left in the dust either way. His heart torn to bits without anyone to mend the pieces. That’s just how his life has always been. Which is why he refuses to get his hopes up in thinking that Louis may actually like him. And such is why he won’t admit to himself that the Prince’s charm might be working on him. He’s saving his heart from being broken again. (It’s what he tells himself to make him feel better)

((It doesn’t))

 

* * *

 

Three months later are a little better. Louis is still trying to seduce Harry and Harry is still having none of it. Although, they are compromising. Harry has gotten a little more comfortable with everyone in the house, Jay included. So he has agreed to call Louis by his first name when nobody else is around. Everytime he tells Louis that his bedroom is cleaned or his laundry is folded and placed away, he gets a tint of red on his cheeks and his skin feels like its burning.

In turn, Louis has upped his game and is now trying to get Harry to cuddle with him. They share the occasional hug, nothing more than that. But Louis has the perfect setup, he’s convinced he can get Harry to cuddle with him this time.

“Hazza!” He doesn’t even care that he’s screaming, or that his sisters upstairs from his room are complaining about how loud his voice is. He’s got a surefire way to get Harry in his bed.

Said boy comes rushing into the room only seconds later, looking worried and frightened that something terrible has happened to Louis. “Louis? What’s wrong are you okay?”

Louis smiles delightfully at him, pulling back the covers on his bed. “Since i’m the Prince of England,” he takes a pause so he can sigh dramatically. “And i’m your boss. Don’t you have to do whatever I say?” Louis has a mischievous glint in his eyes that Harry does not like.

“Erm.. Yeah I guess.” He doesn’t really like where this is going.

“So. Come cuddle with me. And yes, that’s an order.” He giggles evilly and Harry really hates these moments because he’s trying so hard to convince himself he doesn’t love Louis. He’s failing, if you wanted to know.

With a heavy sigh, Harry just nods and slowly makes his way over to Louis’ bed and is about to lay atop the covers, but he’s pulled under quickly. He’s finding it extremely difficult to tell himself he doesn’t love Louis when said boy is in his arms, laying peacefully and smiling like he’s on top of the world. Which, okay. He’s the Prince. So he technically is. Not the point though.

“How long do I have to stay here Louis? It’s nearing bedtime so I should be getting back to my room fairly soon.” He sighs deeply, acts like he doesn’t like being here just so he can go back to his room and squeal like a teenaged girl.

“No.” Is the only answer he gets. So he shrugs the tiniest bit and prepares himself for a long and awkward night.

* * *

 

 

Things continue like that for a while. A few nights a week Louis will make Harry cuddle in his bed until they fall asleep, wrapped around each other like blankets. They close and lock the door each night so none of Louis’ sisters or maids come up and find them. It’s no secret to anybody in the world that Louis likes boys, but it would still be awkward if someone walked in on him and the boy he was in love with cuddling.

So things are good for a few months, they start to progress and Harry is even staying over at his bed five out of the seven days a week. They are still strictly platonic even though Louis doesn’t believe so, Harry is still a stickler about that. The only problem is on one of the first nights Harry and Louis fall asleep together wearing only pants.

They forget to lock the door.

The next morning they are woken up by four girls. Each with shit eating grins on their faces.

“Aw! Aren’t they the cutest!”

“So adorable!”

“I need to take pictures!”

Louis and Harry wake to Louis’ sisters squealing and giggling and taking pictures of them with their camera phones. Harry doesn’t fully register what’s going on at the moment, but Louis does. He throws a pillow at the girls and it lands Lottie straight in the face, causing her to drop her iPhone.

“Louis! What was that for!”

“Being a brat.” He doesn’t like to be woken up in the morning apparently. Especially by his sisters.

All Harry can hope for is that those pictures don’t end up the internet.

“Girls, shoo. Go downstairs and eat with Miss Marlene.” Jay comes up from behind them and ushers them out of the room. “Now as for you boys.” She raises her eyebrow suspiciously and Harry can start to feel tears prickle at his eyes. This is it. I’m fired. She’s found me in bed with her son and now she is going to fire me and I will have to go back to Cheshire and- “You could have at least told me first that you two were dating. Instead I had to actually find out.” She sounds so calm about everything. Which genuinely throws Harry off track.

“Oh, no ma’am. Louis and I aren’t-Master Tomlinson is just. We were just. It wasn’t.” He sighs, and just lets Jay smile knowingly at him as she walks out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Harry flops back down on the bed, rubs his face with both hands and wonders when his life ever got this hard.

 

* * *

 

Harry and Louis have been dating for roughly two months, apparently. The whole Tomlinson family and the workers for them agree that Harry and Louis are completely, head-over-heels in love with each other. Jay even refers to Harry as her son-in-law.

Which, as usual, bothers Harry greatly. He loves Louis, he really does, but he has it drilled into his brain that Louis can never, and will never, love him the same way. He thinks of this all as just some cruel joke people are playing on him. The world must hate him. No actually, the world loves him. Ever since the media caught wind of Louis’ new boy toy,(Harry hates being called something so degrading) it’s all anyone can talk about. Despite Harry telling everyone that No, he is not dating Louis and I just work for him. I swear.

No one actually believes him when he says these things though, everyone just waves him off. And when he has to go out to buy something from the shops, he gets reporters and paparazzi asking him how Louis’ doing and how their relationship is going.

He brushes everyone off with a polite smile and a shake of his head.

Today, though, is his day off. Which he plans to utilize to the best of his ability. He’s going back home for the day to visit his mum, and he’s got a surprise planned he hopes she loves.

“Thank you for letting me go home today, Jay. It means a lot.” He sets his bag down on the floor to hug her tightly, as if thanking her again.

“Oh it’s no problem at all, sweetie. I know you miss your mum, just make sure you’re home by 9 so you can read the twins their bedtime stories.” They laugh for a few seconds, before Harry picks up his bag again and heads for the door, only to be stopped by a hand around his waist. Louis. Of course.

“And where do you think you’re going with that, Haz?” He asks, wraps his arms around Harry’s waist securely as if to make him stay.

“I’m visiting my mum today, Louis. You knew that. I’ll be back later today though so don’t worry, Lou.” He wraps his arms around Louis’ shoulders and squeezes, kisses his temple lightly and smiles to himself. “See you later, Lou.”

He pulls away, but not before Louis reaches up on his tippy toes and kisses the corner of his mouth with a smile. “Bye Hazzy. See you later tonight.” He lets go and turns around, leaves like nothing ever happened, and he’s left blushing like he just went to the sun.

 

* * *

 

 

“Harry!” His mother practically screams as Harry steps out of the car, waves to Paul as a thanks, and drops his bag on the sidewalk when his mother throws her arms around him.

Harry smiles from ear to ear and takes her in, hugging her close. He’s a mummy’s boy, no question about it.

“Harry, it’s cold outside! You should be wearing a warmer coat!” And here comes the scolding.

“”I’m fine, mum. Let’s just go inside, I have a gift for you.” He picks up his bag again and ushers them into his old, very tiny, house. They quickly squish themselves on Anne’s small couch, a crisp, white envelope in Harry’s hands. “Now, I know how hard it was for you when I left and moved to London. But I got a job and I know you said you didn’t want any help with anything, but I felt this was the only way I could repay you.” Shakily, Harry hands over the envelope.

Anne eyes her son suspiciously, but takes the envelope and opens it with wide eyes. She gasps, suddenly, and almost drops the paper. Inside the envelope is a check. A check for 500,000 pounds. Being a servant of the Prince of England definitely pays a lot.

“Harry.. Thank you, thank you so much. This.. This means a lot.” She looks as if she’s going to start crying, so Harry pulls her into a hug and kisses her cheek.

They spend a minute like that, hugging each other and murmuring thank you’s. That is, until Anne pulls back and slaps Harry’s arm. He shouts in surprise, holds his arm like he’s been shot.

“What was that for?”

“For dating the Prince of fucking England but not telling me!” She sounds minorly outraged ,but mostly pleased that her son has finally found someone to love.

Harry splutters and shakes his head for a moment, but Anne’s smile is telling him she doesn’t believe him. “Listen mum, we’re not dating. People just think we’re dating because apparently Louis likes me, but he doesn’t. There is nothing to worry about, mum.” He smiles sadly, almost disappointed that Louis doesn’t have interest in him.

Anne rolls her eyes and smacks his arm again. “You twit! Of course Louis is in love with you! He’s said so himself!”

Harry furrows his eyebrows, rubs his arm with his hand to soothe the sting. “What on Earth are you talking about, mum? You’ve never met him, how do you know he said that?” He honestly thinks his mum is going crazy.

Anne rolls her eyes yet again and points to her television. “I may not have met him, but I sure do watch his interviews. He had an interview with Alan Carr months ago where he said that he fancied the pants off you. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

He’s genuinely confused now, Louis said that? No wonder everyone thought they were dating. “He probably said it as a joke, mum. He doesn’t like me.” Harry huffs, crosses his arms over his chest before standing up and grabbing his bag again. “I should get going, it’s a long drive to London and I need to read Phoebe and Daisy a story before they go to bed.”

“Harry listen,” Anne stands up too, placing her hands on Harry’s shoulders and smiling softly. “I know you find it hard that people could like you, but you are a very loveable person. And although I may have never met Louis, but I know for a fact he loves you.” Her voice is soft and smooth, which alarms Harry. And as if he had an epiphany, Harry kisses his mum on the cheek, takes his bag, and runs out to the car waiting for him. Suddenly needing to get back to London.

 

* * *

 

 

“Muuuum!” Louis whines, pouting and flailing his arms about.

“What, Louis?” Jay sounds tired, which. She is. She has to deal with five children all day long.

“I miss him.” He says it with a simple pout, shoving his head into his pillow that smells strongly of Harry. It makes the ache in his heart worse. He hears his mum sigh, which makes him whine again. “I can’t go this long without him, mum. What if something’s happened to him? Then I would never know.” He knows he’s being a little over dramatic, but he can’t help it. The love of his life has been gone for five hours and seventeen minutes, and he may never see him again until eight o’clock that night.

“Louis, calm down. He’s just at his m-” Jay stops short when she hears heavy footsteps running down the hall and right up to Louis’ room. She’s about to say something, but the door flies open and there Harry stands, panting and out of breath as his eyes dart to the far end of the room to Louis’ bed, where said boy is now standing up next to the bed.

“Hazz..” He sounds almost in shock, he wasn’t expecting Harry back for another few hours yet, here he is. Jay slips out of the room quietly, leaving the boys to their own accord.

Harry steps forward as if in a haze, grabs Louis’ face in his hands and smashes their lips together. It’s not the best kiss in the world, certainly not the cleanest. Tongues and teeth are everywhere, but neither boy minds. They’re kissing, finally after what seems like months of flirting so it’s perfect to them.

A few minutes later, they’re still kissing, only now they’re on Louis’ bed, shirts off and on the ground. As Harry grinds his hips into Louis’ the door flies open and four girls are standing in the doorway, covering their eyes and screaming. The boys scramble to get under the covers, laughing as they do so. When they’re covered, they grant permission for the girls to open their eyes, which they do with caution.

“I knew you guys were together, but I did not need to see… that.” Lottie makes a disgusted looking face, pulls Daisy and Phoebe into her side so they don’t have to see the two half-naked boys.

Louis just sighs and leans back into Harry’s warm chest, smiling as he trails his fingers across his stomach and dips it below the blanket covering them. “Well. You girls better get out before this gets really graphic.” He winks up at Harry before leaning up and pressing his lips to Harry’s once again. The girls squeal loudly as they shut the door and run out, Fizzy runs off to tell her mum not to go into Louis’ room for a while which.. everyone obeys that request.

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, when the sun has set and almost everyone has gone to sleep, the two boys are lying under the covers, sweaty and panting. Harry has his head on Louis’ stomach, lying between his legs as he pants breathlessly with a smile. His hands rest on Louis’ sides, taking in the sight of his boy.

“That was..” his thoughts are interrupted. Not like he minds. “Absolutely incredible. You sure you’ve never done that before?”

Harry shakes his head with a smile. “It’s never been like that. I’ve never felt anything like that.”

Lous just chuckles and combs his fingers through Harry’s hair. “Well my bum certainly felt it. Gonna feel it for days, I reckon.”

“S’ what I was hoping for.” Harry presses small kisses to Louis’ stomach, smiling sleepily, and although Louis really wants to sleep, there are some questions he desperately needs the answers to.

“Babe.. Why did it take so long for you to figure out that I liked you? I’m so glad this happened, but why so late?” Louis knew he’s talked about Harry in past interviews before and tries to constantly give him affection, but he wants to know why this happened so late. It’s a mystery in itself.

Harry just sighs, and pushes himself so he’s lying next to Louis instead of on top of him. He figured this would come up, he just didn’t think it would happen right after they first… made love. (he’s a romantic, don’t judge.) “I just.” he sighs again, smiles softly when Louis cuddles into his side and kisses his cheek. “I’ve been let down in the past. And it was just hard to believe that someone so unbelievably beautiful and wanted by everyone would want someone like me. For Christ’s sake, I’m your servant. We shouldn’t be making love but we did and it was incredible. I just didn’t want to get my hopes up, only to get tossed into the dust like I don’t even matter. It’s happened too many times.” He sighs once again, and pulls back from Louis to look him in the face. Louis’ face is frozen in shock, and what seems like tears pooling in his eyes.

“Harry, you better listen to me.” Louis puts both of his hands on Harry’s cheek and brings him closer, so close their breaths mingle. “I love you with all my heart, I’ve known you for all of eight months but anyone in this Palace, in the world, will tell you that I have had my heart set on you from the moment you walked in. You are amazing, funny, so kind, and so beautiful I could cry. It hurts me to know that you don’t see yourself the way I do.” Harry is just about ready to cry right now, so he buries his head in Louis’ chest and presses his ear up against his left pec, to hear his heart beat. It soothes him, really.

He can do nothing but nod his head as he listens to the steady thud of Louis’ heart.

They stay in that embrace for a while, rubbing each others sides and backs occasionally, but overall just enjoying the company. That is, until Louis says, “So.. We made love, eh?”

Harry just whacks him with a pillow.


End file.
